The Avengers Finally Unleash the Right Hulk

I have no problem admitting that I love comics. I read them when I was little, I watched the animated TV shows, and I played the video games. Then later on came the movies. The latter created some awesome moments. But it also created a lot of disappointment.

Before, when I watched a movie that was based on a book I read, I often left the theater disappointed. This was mostly because my loyalties were still deeply tied to the book. If I felt the movie hadn’t done the book justice, I would automatically disfavor the movie. Then I took a screenwriting class and I learned to appreciate the creative process that went behind an adaptation. This meant that I finally understood that it was absolutely natural for the screenwriter/director to want to make their own mark in a certain story. Besides, we all know time and length also play a role in why movies turn out the way they do. However, this new understanding worked for movies based on books, yet not for those based on comics or cartoons. Why not?

Well, when you read a book, you get to imagine characters and scenarios. When you watch the movie, you may be more tolerant of changes to what you imagined because it is very unlikely that your image could have been so detailed as to be unchangeable. But when you saw the comics, they had detailed faces! This, my dear readers, is a little bit harder to change.

So of course when I think of Peter Parker, this is what comes to mind:

Peter Parker

Could you understand then why I was so upset when Hollywood decided to give me this for a Spider-Man:

Tobey Maguire

Or what about Bruce Wayne?

Bruce Wayne

And then we get this skinny-faced character:

Christian Bale

Before you go on to comment on how there’s a pretty big difference between a comic/cartoon character and a real person, let me show you a character brought to life done right:

Bruce Banner on the right

Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr.

But if you really still need more convincing that Ruffalo is a total badass playing Hulk, then please read this editorial about Ruffalo’s performance in The Avengers.